Steel permanent way for high speed railways



Apwifi 16 1935., E. K. ROSCHER STEEL PERMANENT WAY FOR HIGH SPEED RAILWAYS Filed March 18, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 16, 1935., E. K. ROSCHER w fi STEEL PERMANENT WAY FOR HIGH SPEED RAILWAYS Filed March 18, 193]. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm m In w w m 1 long distance traffic, having", regard to the dif- Patentecl Apr. 16, 1935 1,998,205 STEEL PERMANENT WAY FOR HIGH srnw 1 'RAI'LWAYS Ernst Karl Reseller, Hambm'g -Wan'dsBek,

' G m a, Application March 18, 1931, Serial N ;52 3,572 In Germany December 22, 1930 i a 7Claims. (01.104-124) UNITED Y PATENT I f The constructing of high speed railways nor-v mally proceeds on the assumption, Witha View to reliable operation, thatthe permanent way is located in a zone which is entirely unhampered by ordinary trafiic. Outside the towns thisis mainly effected in, the form of a raised embanka ment, which crosses country'roads by means of. bridges, whereas in towns an elevated railway structure made of steel. is frequently employed:

On account-of the-highcost of such anelevated' railway structure'lit has hithertonot been: found advisable in practic'efto employ the same over long distances, notwithstanding theqiactthat it has the great advantage or only occupying a small amount of land for its foundations, and of easily; bridging over difierences in themlevel of the ground, and: above all, or obviatingany interfer-Z ence with the traflic on the land below it. Apart from'the cost it is therefore technicallyfthe most advantageous type of permanentoway.

The cost of an elevatedrailway structure p ing through open country is directly dependent; upon the heaviest train units which are-to pass over the horizontally extending bridge girders between the supporting columns .or abutments. These weights, inv the case of trains drawn by locomotives of the heaviest type at present in use are very considerable I If, however, the weights" of the train units can '1 be'considerably reduced, and-nevertheless a can siderable amount of trafiic can .be adequately dealt with, the steel structure for elevated railways can compete on advantageousterms with the railway embankments hitherto adoptednfor iiculties associated therewith; r.

These light train unitsare possible now, more: particularly in the form of light railway motors for passenger trafiic, which: are guided between lower carrying rails and supporting railsex,- tending above the vehicles, and the weight of which is comparable with that of an aeroplane or of automobile. A rail motor of thistype for high speed railwaysforms the subject-matter of my co pending' applicationVSer. No. 523,571, filed March 18, 193-1. 1 7 v V;

The construction of a railway structure especially for suchIvehicles-and,particularly on a;narrow gauge track, orpreferably on a single rail,

7 with a supplementary guiding rail abovethe vehiele, isicontemplated by the: present invention, The arrangement of :railsin high: speedlrai-le way structures at present in 'use'is' such; I that the carsfor trains. either travel along above the bridge girder'i or travel through: the interior ioi a box-shaped bridge girder, or hang down therefrom as a suspendedrailway,

All three; constructions are unsuited for alight andreconornical-constructions v A In the first case the bearer height is poorlyutilized, and the centre pfgravity ofthe moving load islocatedvery high, it sufiicient clear heightis still to reinain underneath-thebridgei- In the case ofthe usual-box girder bridge and offa double track arrangement of rails, the bridge girder is comparatively broad andhigh, in order to allow room-for the passage of the vehicles.

In the case of asuspended railway the weight ofthe bridge'girder-rnustbe arranged high above the level, ifthe vehicle bodies hanging down underneath the bridge are to leave sufficient clear height for the trafiic or the like located beneath all, the bridges, withv the trackv arrangement as described, have the further disadvantagevthat, notwithstandingtheir great intrinsic weight,- they only "permit of a limited speed of 1 the vehicles. The total weight otthe'supp ting structure is furthermore so great that rid-one has hitherto c'ontemplated'utilizing the rails for assisting in taking up the longitudinal stresses of the support-v ingbridg'e. V

. The present invention obviates'the disadvantages of the constructions'des'cribed, first. owing to'the. fact for eachloi' the two' tracks it provides a- .Iower-' supporting railan'd an upper guidingraiflwhicli extend along beside the bridge girder 'on the two outer sides, in such a way, that the twoiowerraus are at about th'h'eight of the lower boom; and the upper rails are at about the heightof the np e'r'btdm or the'bridg'e girder. I

A The result is therebyobtained that the centre of gravity of the. moving 'load is low, and also, for the bridge'itsel-i, that favourable conditions" as regards freedom of. the ground "are attainable, that the bridge girder is narrow, and therefore relieved of'unnecessary, weight, that the lightest construction of the vehicle bodies is possible, and finally thatthe upper and lower rails may advantageously be utilized 'to assist in taking the longitudinal stresses of the bridge girder itself; The drawings show by way of example various possibilities of construction and usin Such narrow and light bridge structures.

Fig. 1 shows in transverse section a bridge structure of triangulaniormation withimono railson -the outside of thebrid'ge body; f

. i s-2 sm rtr as s section's double T or double-cross iormatio n of the bridge. body which in combination with the angular bracing between the vertical web members and the horizontal transverse members is practically speaking but a structural alternative of the structure of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows in cross section a modified bridge body with A-shaped struts the. rails for the two tracks being arranged outside of the bridge body and also outside of the said A-frame, the cross section of the cars is made narrow at the bottom and shaped so at one side that it fits closely to the triangular section of the bridge body.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal elevational view of a bridge structure with a crosssection according to Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal elevational view of a bridge body with cross sections similar to Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal elevational view of a bridge body with cross sections according to Fig. 3. V p

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of a continuous bridge body (i. e. without interruption of longitudinal booms between three abutments); the cross section in this case is advantageously similar to Fig. l. I r

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of a bridge body similar to Fig. 1 and Fig. 8 over large spans by suspending it on a suspension cable or cables between high piers placed at comparatively large distance from each other.

Fig. 10 is a bottom plan of the base of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 showing particularly the horizontal diagonal bracing.

A particularly advantageous utilization of material is obtained when adopting the fundamental ideas hereinbefore set forth if the vehicles are made particularly narrow at the lower part, and a girder construction is selected wherein the cross section exhibits the form of a triangle with the apex at the top, as shown Figure 1. As shown the transverse bearers I are connected by longitudinal booms or chords I the end portions of the bearers extending beyond the booms and supporting lower carrying tracks 2'. The supporting rails 3 arranged above the lower tracks are then kept the correct distance apart by means of transverse bearers 4 above the apex of the triangular frame, each transverse bearer being strongly connected with the said frame;

This cross sectional form of bridge has the advantage of great rigidity in all directions, particularly as regards torsional movements, since by the employment of rigid diagonals M as shown in the side view of the bridge in Figure 5, the

alterations in the angles at theicorner connections of the girder are precluded. Further advantages are: that the lower rails 2 assist the lower longitudinal booms or chords which in taking up longitudinal stresses and can be located close to the main struts 5, that is to say, the bridge girder web, and that the mounting of such a framework in the open country can be particularly simply and reliably carried out. If the idea of utilizing the upper supporting rails 3 as a longitudinal bond is substantially abandoned, the upper boom may extend in the form of a special profile 6 beyond the apices of the triangular frames, thus giving rise to the most advantageous possible position as regards web T or in the form. of a double cross, wherein stays I, 8 and 9, or 10, H and I! are employed in triangular relationship in place of the rigid memhers I, 4 and 5 in the cross sectional form shown in Figure l. The corresponding side views of the bridge 8 are shown in Figures 6 and 7.

Figure 6 also shows that here the upper main boom is in the form of an are H, in which case it may be constructed with a constant cross section, thus utilizing the material as advantageously as possible.

It would of course also be possible to replace the inclined stays 8 and II illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 by vertical stays joining the lower and upper cross girders outside the two vehicle bodies, the rails then being located nearer to the central vertical main bridge girder l3. The rigidity of the construction then depends mainly upon the lateral strength of the central strut l3, and the horizontal diagonal bracing, which is arranged between the chords I and the lower transverse bearers l as shown at 2| in Fig. 10.

In cases in which an existing embankment is-to be utilized, or in which guidance by an elevated track can be omitted, the cross girder constructions illustrated in Figures" 1, 2 and- .3 are also suitable for locating the lower and upper rail tracks upon such embankments, pile sub-structures and the like, because hereagain both the distance between the rails and the vertical position of the upper rail in relation to the lower rails must be secured as rigidly as possible.

The utilization of the rails for the longitudinal stresses in the body of the bridge is facilitated by fitting struts and stays M, which are provided below and above them between the supporting points l5 and 16 of Figure 5 on the cross girders of I and 4 of Figure 1, and which keep thev bending stresses arising from the passage of vehicles small. r

A particularly firm supporting pillar for the track bridge, which is at the same time easy to erect, is shown in Figure 4 in the form of an A- girder, the shape of which grows,so to'speak, out of the triangular cross section Fig. l of the bridge extending between such supports. As will be seen, in the case of these supporting pillars, the vehicle bodies will pass laterally at the outside thereof, whereby they may be shortened to a minimum length, as contrasted with the triangular supporting pillars in suspended railways, where the vehicles pass through betweenthe supporting pillars.

Of course some other form of support may also be employed in conjunction with girder bridges according to this invention.

In order to keep bending stresses small in the bridge girders between the supports l8 in Figure 8, the bridge will preferably be constructed as a continuous girder over one or two supports.

In the case of rather long spans the type of bridge construction hereinbefore described may advantageously be combined with a suspension cable l9, as shown in Figure 9, or a suspension chain, which is stretched between elevated supporting piers 20, and on which the bridge itself is suspended. Lateral oscillations of the bridge are then precluded by special struts or holding cables. For this case also the rigidity. of the triangle Fig. l is an important function;

It is to be noted that the upper longitudinal and transverse booms constitute an upper horizontal support and that the lower longitudinal and transverse booms constitute a lower horizontal support which supports are connected together by web members and form a continuous bridge body ofopen steel truss work. In some instances the carrying tracks also constitute an essential constituent of the upper and lower horizontal supports.

What I claim is:

1. A track structure for double track elevated railroad comprising a horizontal continuous bridge body of open steel truss work including at least one lower boom, at least one upper boom,

transverse bearers connected therewith and extending laterally therefrom and truss bracing between the upper and lower booms and between the lower transverse bearers to make the lower and upper booms the bearers and the bracing act as one common girder, two upper stabilizing tracks associated with the upper bearers, two lower carrying tracks on the outer ends of the lower transverse bearers, the lower carrying tracks being arranged on the outside of the bridge body in conjunction with the upper stabilizing tracks above them and between which upper and lower tracks railway vehicles may run on and at the outside of the bridge body.

2. A track structure for a double track elevated railroad, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the longitudinally extending rail carrying tracks form additional longitudinal booms for the bridge body.

3. A track structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross section of the bridge body is fundamentally in the form of a triangle with its apex upwards and its base being extended laterally to carry the carrying rails of the vehicles.

4. A track structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross section of the bridge body is fundamentally in the form of a triangle with its apex upwards and the longitudinal booms of the bridge girder being arranged at each corner thereof.

'5. A track structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross section of the carrying bridge body is fundamentally in the form of an I.

6. A track structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein pillars are provided and constructed in the form of a roman capital A growing out of the triangular section of the bridge body while the rails are carried along outside the profile of the said pillars.

7.'A track structure fora double track high speed railway, comprising lower carrying rails and upper stabilizing rails between which the vehicles can run, rail supporting structures between the two tracks shaped fundamentally in the form of a triangle with its apex turned up, horizontal rail bearers fastened to the apex of the said triangle and braced to the latter, the tracks being mono-rail tracks for the use of vehicles the cross section of which is narrow in the lower portion and shaped to fit closely to the triangular rail supporting structure.

ERNST KARL ROSCHER. 

